Young Asians Come Clean About Not Feeling Green

While children in some parts of the world count the environment as being among their top concerns, one study claims that Asia’s all-important next generation of global citizens are not nearly as concerned with the need for environmental protection as their Western peers.

And with unprecedented development occurring throughout Asia, there’s no doubt that presents a real problem.

Intriguingly, while just 15% of young Asians polled were very concerned about the need for action, their mother’s, who were also polled, expressed near unanimous concern for environmental action at roughly 95%. Fortunately, young Chinese rate the environment as a much higher concern than do their counterparts in places like Thailand according to the study. And perhaps not surprisingly named their television, school and close friends as being primary sources of information about environmental issues.

Parental involvement trailed drastically as a method of learning about conservation, but that doesn't surprise me a bit... Most kids hate listening to their parents about anything, whether it's the environment, the condition of their room, or taste in movies.

But generally speaking, third world children are exposed to far greater levels of pollution and environmental degradation on a daily basis than those in first world countries. So it would seem logical that they would be more sensitive to these types of concerns than those in first world countries, regardless of which developing nation they come from. And it surprised me to see that wasn't always the case.